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Fast & Furious replica of 1966 Corvette

8:28:00 AM

by Charis Chang

When Sam Barber rolls up in his 1966 Corvette even men in Porsches stare in open-mouthed amazement.

The 42-year-old painter modified his convertible to look like a 1963 Grand Sport, of which there are only five models in existence each valued about $5 million.
Barber added an extra wow factor when he spraypainted its original red body to silver to replicate the car used in Fast & Furious 5.

“If I take the car into the city, I usually get about 20 to 30 people taking photos,” he said.
“Everyone just goes wow, what is that?
“It’s the only car I know of that looks like this in Australia.”

The Northbridge resident says he takes his car for a spin most weekends except when it’s raining as the convertible does not have a roof.

It also doesn’t lock properly so he can’t stray too far away.
But this doesn’t bother Barber who said the car was made in a time when looks mattered.

“I think this is the sexiest car you can get, it’s the only car made from fibreglass so this gives it a better shape.
“Nowadays they make cars so people don’t get hurt, but in the good old days they just made them look sexy.”

The Corvette was shipped over from the US and Barber won’t say how much he paid for it. But he said the cars were worth up to $20,000 in the US and could fetch up to $200,000 in Australia.
Because it is more than 20 years old Barber did not have to change it to right-hand drive so the steering is on the left.

The similarity of the body of the 1966 model to the 1963 Grand Sport meant Barber could cut the windscreens down, put in a roll cage and change the lights to make it look like its million-dollar counterpart.

He said he painted it silver because of movies such as Fast & Furious increased people’s recognition of cars. He recently got F&F5 numberplates.
“A lot of time movies make cars, such as in The Dukes of Hazzard,” he said.
But it’s mostly guys that are attracted to the car, not girls, he said.